Utah Cheerleaders Feel 'Body Shamed' After Male Classmate Complains That Their Skirts Led to 'Impure' Thoughts

Last week, when a male student at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah, complained to a school counselor that the uniforms worn by cheerleaders on game day were causing him to have “impure” thoughts in class, the conversation could have ended there. But it didn’t.

After the teen said that he was distracted by the cheerleaders’ skirts and his mother emailed an administrator, the school’s cheerleading coach was alerted about the concerns, and 44 girls on the Timpview Thunderbirds’ cheer squads were told not to wear their uniforms to school last Friday before the football game against the Alta Hawks.

Now school administrators are trying to clear up the kerfuffle, which they insist was simply a misunderstanding gone awry. But cheerleaders say they didn’t get that impression.

Speaking anonymously because they are afraid of being ostracized for discussing what happened, several members of Timpview’s cheer squad tell PEOPLE exclusively that school administrators held a meeting after the boy’s complaint and couldn’t come to a decision about what action – if any – should be taken.

“But then after the meeting, one of the assistant principals communicated to the cheer coach that we shouldn’t be wearing our uniforms to school,” says one cheerleader. “All of us were trying to decide which skirt to wear on Friday and our coach told us that we couldn’t wear them anymore. We asked what would happen if we wore them anyway, and she advised us not to. So we didn’t. Instead we wore best dress the next day.”

Timpview school administrators did not return PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Most of the cheerleaders were upset about what happened, with one telling PEOPLE, “it’s giving this boy power that when he grows up and does something to a girl, he can blame it on her skirt being too short. It really made me angry. Why should this boy have control over what we wear?”

Several of the girls’ parents were also frustrated, calling the situation “nonsense.”

“It puts unfair pressure on the cheerleaders,” one mother tells PEOPLE. “I was shocked when my daughter came home and told me, ‘We can’t wear our uniforms on game day. They’re giving boys’ dirty thoughts.’ I want the school to have a meeting with all of the cheerleaders and all of the parents, and I want our girls to walk out of that meeting with their heads held high. This boy’s problem has nothing to do with them.”

Cheer advisor Krissy Fry wouldn’t comment, telling PEOPLE that “there really is no story – it was blown out of proportion.”

But Caleb Price, spokesperson for the Provo City School District, says that administrators are now investigating to “find out exactly what the cheerleaders were told that led them to wear regular clothes to school on game day” instead of their traditional blue-and-orange cheer uniforms to promote school spirit.

“It’s a misunderstanding between the cheerleading advisor and a member of the school administration who gave her a message about the boy’s concerns,” Price tells PEOPLE. “The school was never going to say you can’t wear your uniforms or dress in a certain way.”

The cheerleaders were understandably upset, says Price, and when word leaked out about the controversy, social media sites were flooded with comments.

“They are sexualizing a school uniform and I think it’s just disgusting – they are objectifying these girls,” wrote Nicole Wood, a sister of one of the cheerleaders, on the Mormon Stories Podcast Facebook page. “I feel like this obsession with female modesty is just feeding into the rape culture that is far too prevalent in the area.”

Timpview High is located in predominantly-Mormon Utah County near Brigham Young University, where controversy ignited earlier this year over female students who reported being raped and were subsequently punished by the school’s honor code.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, young men and women are taught that their bodies are sacred and that they should dress modestly to show reverence. But this often leads to “body shaming,” says Kate Kelly, the founder of Ordain Women who was excommunicated from the LDS Church in 2014 for advocating female entry into the all-male Mormon priesthood.

oh, like he wouldn't think about sex if they were in jeans. *rolls eyes* Why should the girls be burdened with the responsibility of accommodating his thought process? oh no, you mean a high school guy is thinking about sex because the girls are wearing skirts? omg, you're kidding!

Quit teaching them sex and the female body is dirty/evil and maybe their idiot, horny asses won't be so distracted.

And for fucks sake, let them rub one out in the shower daily without worrying about going to hell. Maybe if they got that poison out every now and then they'd be able to think straight, the poor dumb fuckers.

Mormons from Utah are much worse about this kind of stuff than those who grew up outside of the state and Utah County is the worst of the worst. A lot of them are whining assholes when the rest of us don't adjust our behavior to fit their small world view. Ugh, definitely a sore spot for me obviously.

Having said that, I don't think cheerleaders should wear their outfits during the day at school, not for sexual reasons, but it just seemed dumb when I was in school. Save that shit for the football field. Ha! Everyone obviously bugs me!!!

My coworker's daughter is a cheerleader and her uniform is really really short and really really formfitting. It's not the pleated skirts they wore when I was in high school. I'm not suggesting that anyone should be shamed for it or that boys aren't responsible for controlling themselves, but I'm kind of with Scoobydoo that it's not exactly classroom material. I'd say the same thing about the volleyball team wearing their tiny shorts to school as well (which they don't) - it's a time and place thing to me.

Well, yeah, you could say the same about swim team or water polo teams. Still, should female swimmers, water polo players, volleyball players have to adjust their competitive attire in order to keep your precious kids thoughts pure? Maybe it's not appropriate classroom attire (though, tbh, those skirts look fairly tame compared to what I've seen girls wearing). But, maybe girls shouldn't have to police their wardrobe because they might make a high school boy have impure thoughts. I'm pretty sure EVERY high school boy has impure thoughts, regardless of what a girl is wearing. Maybe teach boys that girls are people, too, and deserve respect. They aren't objects and shouldn't be treated as such.

This is ridiculous. From the moment puberty starts kicking in boys start transforming into a walking gland. You could dress girls up in the worst of the worst that fashion has ever seen and the little sods would still get a stalk. But that is something for the boys to blush about and learn to deal with in a way that doesn't pass the blame for their boner on to someone else, just the same way that hormonal girls have to.

Suck it up, Buttercups. The real world is full of distracting things and your teen years are just the start of it.

Forbidden fruit. This is what happens when you try to suppress the shit out of something perfectly natural. Do people think girls aren't horny? I think it would be hilarious if a group of their female students petitioned the boys swim team to start wearing knee length board shorts and full swim shirts. Any sport with a uniform where we can see your bulging biceps, the outline of your ass, your crotch or too much leg?? Oh yeah, you could cover these fuckers up with some baggy shit too. Big time. They could also argue that these "sexy" uniforms are evil and might make their fellow males inadvertently aroused (i.e. oh noes! it's making me ghey!)